Paul Blake retains world title in Doha

GB team co-captain wins T36 800m gold at the IPC Athletics World Championships

Paul Blake claimed a seventh gold medal for Great Britain at the IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha on Monday, winning the T36 800m to retain his title.

The GB team co-captain clocked 2:06.89, holding off Russia’s Artem Arefyev who crossed the line in 2:07.13. Andrey Zhirnov joined his Russian team-mate on the podium, running a 2:09.91 PB for bronze.

“It’s an absolute sigh of relief more than anything,” said seven-time world medallist Blake, who also claimed 400m silver in Doha. “It’s an absolute honour to retain my title. I’ve worked really hard for it this season.”

David Weir didn’t enjoy the same level of success as his British team-mate in the T54 5000m, the six-time Paralympic gold medallist finishing seventh in a race won by Thailand’s Rawat Tana, who had beaten Weir to the 1500m title two days before.

“Just to get a medal here, I am happy with that,” said Weir, who added his 1500m silver to the marathon medal of the same colour he claimed in London in April. “It’s just one of those things, you can’t win everything and I’ve realised it’s jumped another level since 2012.

“The speed I hit today, I would have won a gold medal, but I wasn’t in the right position and that was it.

“I’ll just move on now and get ready for New York (Marathon) and the rest of the season.”

Switzerland’s defending champion Marcel Hug claimed silver after finishing fifth over 1500m, while in the T52 1500m USA’s Raymond Martin, a five-time winner in Lyon two years ago, retained his title.

Five-time Paralympic medallist Stephen Miller placed fourth in the F32 club throw as Russia’s Vladislav Frolov took the title with a world record-breaking throw of 35.94m. Miller had a best of 29.65m, while his British team-mate Thomas Green finished sixth with 25.96m.

Frolov, who also won the shot put title, was one of five world record-breakers on the fifth day of action at the Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium. Iran’s Siamak Saleh Farajzadeh bettered the previous F34 shot put mark of 10.68m, throwing over 11 metres in each of his attempts as the top four athletes all threw further than the old world record, while China’s Fuliang Liu broke his own world T47 triple jump record with 15.29m.

Croatia’s Branimir Budetic broke the world F13 javelin record with 65.72m in his opening attempt, while Ireland’s Noelle Lenihan threw 31.64m to break the F38 discus record, the 15-year-old securing silver as F37 athlete Mi Na of China threw a championship record of 33.59m to retain her title.

Britain’s Ben Rowlings finished fourth in the T34 800m, the same position he achieved in the 400m final, as he clocked 1:47.23 in a race won by Tunisia’s Walid Ktila in a 1:45.71 championship record. Isaac Towers placed sixth in 1:48.90.

Kylie Grimes, who represented GB in wheelchair rugby at London 2012, finished fourth in the T52 100m final, the T51 athlete having also finished fifth in the F51 club throw won by her team-mate Jo Butterfield on the third day of competition, while Zac Shaw ran a 22.88 to finish sixth in the T13 200m, matching his finishing position in the 100m final.

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